The Unrivaled Basketball League Teams Up With Maker's Mark

The most recent WNBA season ran from May through September. For many years, several of the league’s athletes have played overseas when their domestic season is over, but a new initiative has sought to change that: Unrivaled, a three-on-three women’s league founded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier that debuted earlier this year. Unrivaled will be back for a second season in 2026, and among the changes in store is an arrangement with Maker’s Mark.

Unrivaled is the latest sports league to announce a spirits-related partnership. (Just ask Formula 1 or Major League Soccer.) This week’s announcement notes that Maker’s Mark “will be the first Official Spirits Partner of Unrivaled presented by Samsung Galaxy.” The reference to them being the first such partner is interesting and may foreshadow Unrivaled adding other partners in the future.

What does this partnership mean in practical terms? According to the announcement, “specialty cocktails inspired by the league,” for one thing. Maker’s Mark will also have a prominent presence in the Loge VIP Box at Unrivaled games in Miami beginning in 2026, as well as Fan Fest events before the game. So if you enjoy both bourbon and basketball, there’s a lot to like about this arrangement.

In a statement, Unrivaled co-founder Collier drew a parallel between the league and the distillery. “What Maker’s Mark has done throughout its renowned history is exactly what Unrivaled aims to do, which is carving our own path to create something better and leaning into unreasonable ideas instead of shying away from them,” she said.

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The growth of Unrivaled also suggests that three-on-three basketball is having something of a moment right now. The Ice Cube-backed men’s three-on-three league Big3 began play in 2017 and shifted to a city-based model for its 2025 season. Unrivaled’s 2025 season took place in Miami, with the league’s 2026 season scheduled to take place both there and in Philadelphia. That season is set to begin on January 5 with a pair of games in Miami.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…